Apostolic Faith Youth Retreat 2008
This weekend was the Apostolic Faith Church 2008 Youth Retreat at Seaside, Oregon and Debbie and I made the trip. There was a really big turnout compared to previous years, something like 80 young people attended. It was a good chance to spend some time away from the city, study God's word, and get to talk to people that I don't normally get to talk to. Debbie and I both had a really good time and were able to take some pictures, which I've posted over in the Pictures section. Go have a look!
The weekend's focus was on maintaining holiness as Christians, and Brothers Erik, Will, and Josh each lead a devotional on the subject. We all discussed how important it is that, as a church, we hold fast to our Christian guidelines as the world becomes more and more accepting of things that the Bible tells us are wrong. Brother Erik talked about the function of boundaries that we should be setting up for ourselves, which are used to keep ourselves far away from sin. Brother Will likened these boundaries to wearing a hard hat at a construction site; the hard hat will rarely ever be necessary to save your life, but you still wear it all the time because when it is used, you'll be glad you were always wearing it and the inconvenience of always wearing it will have been worth it. Brother Josh commented we have to make sure we never ease up those boundaries because if we ease up on them one time, then that one instance sets a new standard. As we continue to compromise on the guidelines and get comfortable doing so, the guidelines get closer and closer to letting things into our daily life that shouldn't be there.
Like I said earlier, the weekend was a real treat and I'm glad I went. Thanks a ton to the small group of youth ministers that lead the devotionals, and especially thanks to Erik for putting so much time and effort into making the trip a success. I'm sure a lot of the young people there got to experience a revitalization, so to speak, in their Christian walk and will energize the whole youth group going into the summer Camp Meetings and Youth Camps.
Comments
Hey Cam, this is a great article and a great site! I'm glad you mentioned to me that you had this up. Nice pictures, nice blogs, nice work.
Cam!
Great site. I enjoyed looking through the pictures and was entertained by your descriptions of each photo. I must say there is one of me in one of your albums that is, quite frankly, scary......but thanks for posting all your pictures (other than that one!). :P Thanks also for the BBQ at your house for Justin and I and for posting the pictures. Good times!
-Erin
